[Leonard D Neubache]

Any budding electricians care to comment on this video?

If I can't get any takers to make one of these then I'm going to do it myself as a service to the RVF.

[H1N1]

Will you be testing it on yourself to ensure its efficacy? If so, please record for posterity and upload it to the internet .

Relevant:

[weambulance]

The stun gun thing seems legit in the sense that it should work fine, but all the complicated shit (it's not that complicated but it's not absolutely dirt simple either) is apparently potted in the transformer module. You'd want to sharpen the points so you could get skin contact through clothing, and use a second switch on the other side where you'll naturally depress it while holding the device to minimize the odds of accidentally zapping yourself.

Are cattle prods legal there? They're basically just a stun gun on a stick, and they're farming implements, not weapons.

A projectile weapon I don't think anyone has mentioned is the sling. Of limited utility to be sure, but with practice a sling is right there with a bow in terms of effectiveness, it's much easier to make, and ammo can be anything from lead sling bullets or ball bearings to bricks or molotov cocktails with the right sized sling. If you cannot have a gun, skill with a sling might be worth cultivating.

[Leonard D Neubache]

Cattle prods are the equivalent of a hand held electric fence, designed to motivate an animal to move but not suitable for dropping a mugger. Consider the response you'd get if you used a stun gun on a bull. You'd be spending the rest of your day repairing fences.

Slingshots are good rousting off wankers from a concealed location. I used to live in an apartment block next to a pub, so when some dickhead got rowdy outside in the car park while I was trying to sleep I'd nail the SOB with a rubber pellet. Sometimes it took several tried because they're not very accurate, but the drunks never notices the misses. Pure gold, watching them spin around, seeing two dozen potential windows the shot could have come from and trying to figure out whether to leave in a hurry of go apeshit at nobody in particular.

There are some guys that make extremely high powered slingshots that are wielded more or less like a crossbow.

addendum: This guy is the ultimate slingshot nutter.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVZlxkK...RJXhAGq42Q

[Valentine]

The problem with these suggestions, particularly that of using long steel bike chains with heavy duty padlocks, is that it has both poor carriability and poor deployability.

Carriability
Is this a heavy bike chain really going to become an Every Day Carry item for you? If you're headed out for a spot of night or day game, you're unlikely to always be carrying it.

So 1) you won't develop the habit to instinctively use your weapon when the situation arises and 2) you are not likely to have a weapon in the situations when you need it.

Deployability
If you're walking down the street at 2am and a thug comes up to you, are you going to say hold on a minute sir whilst I unzip my bag and get out my trusty bike chain to break your face open? Worse yet if you chose to keep a football sock and D batteries you've got to stuff them all in there whilst punches rain down on you.

No, you need something that you can very easily and quickly get into your hands without ever having to take your eyes off of the threat.

Of course these both have tradeoffs. The more carriable a weapon is, the less lethal it is likely to be. The more deployable it is, the more easily law enforcement and criminals can detect it. Different strokes for different folks.

In my mind however there is a far more carriable and deployable alternative to the bike chain with similar blunt force and that is a simple belt. Ideally a leather belt with a heavy metal belt buckle. Pretty quick to whip off your trousers, you have to wear one everyday and no bouncer or law enforcement is going to pay any mind to your belt.

As for effectiveness, I sure wouldn't want to be anywhere near a guy who is swinging his belt like this:

[Elster]

Not exactly active self defense but the more I think about the more I feel that situational awareness is as important as the actual conflict.
Of course it is paramount to be able to respond to conflict when it is inescapable,but being able to avoid it in the frist place by reading the signs is an even bigger advantage.

Im strongly grounded on my visual facilities,and as such I tend to focus on body language.
Aggressive body language doesnt need much explanation as it should be natural and easy enough to read instictively but still...

I've noticed the stance and walkking rythm varies according to culture,country and/or ethnical Background but in general they are variations of the the same spectrum:

An "alpha" agressor,the kind that would pick a fight because of intoxication or innate rowdiness/antisocial behaviour/wackiness.etc etc will have a more "ape like" body language-That is,head and shoulders are pushed back exposing/expanding the chest and the arms will be swung in a longer arch.
What you would normally call a "cocky walk"
This gives the potential attacker a semblance of looking down on other individuals which strangley enough makes more submissive ones effectively cower.


Weaker or more insecure attackers would find safety in numbers and the look in their eyes tend to more of a "scavenger" type;what you woud expect to see in street dogs or carrion birds.
They are constantly scanning their surroundings to determine if prey is easy or not worth the trouble and tend to have fidgety looks and disposition. The "leader" amongst them will likely assume a stance more similar to the one of the alpha agressor described before.
They would also try to engage in a situation where they have the tactical advantage and/or in an area where they are able to spread out and run away fast.
This applies rather well to the typical band of second rate "thugs" and muggers you are more likely to encounter in any main street.

In the case of exploding ambassadors of peace.
Even the most merrily convinced fanatic would have an unmistakeable tension in the face that would easily make them stand out under scrutiny (for those who can get the reference: system 2 activated) and appear dissonant with his surroundings.
Be it joy at the prospect of heavenly pussy,or moral rage or what have you,any of the things going on in the head of someone who is about to go 4th of July will obviously not be very much in synthony with the happilly relaxed mental gestalt of a mall full of shoppers or a train station full of worried stressed commuters.

I am grossly generalizing and tipologizing here but these cues are the best way I have of explaining what rubs my instict the wrong way when I sense potential danger.

[The Black Knight]

(07-27-2016 08:16 AM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  

If you want to survive a conflict you have to be able to turn on the psychotic ape inside you.

This is very true.

I have a developed hyper-vigilance to my surroundings. Anything that sets my radar off, I instantly think and visualize about how to destroy that person until the potential threat is gone. Usually, my first thought is to rip out their eye balls from their eye sockets. I'm mentally lock and loaded to execute my thoughts if provoked but I'm always trying to avoid threats whenever possible.

All the weapons in the world don't mean shit if you don't have a developed sense of situational awareness.

Beyond that, the belt buckle idea is pretty good and semi-practical. Provides distance away from attacker.

Keychain pepper spray is good. Buys time to knock out enemy/get away.

Knives are stupid all around.

Baseball bat. Make sure you have a glove and ball nearby (one set in car; one in house) for cover story in the courts.

The baton umbrella is pretty interesting but requires constantly carrying it.

A pocketable smoke grenade might have some uses. Think about shit like Paris and people taking fire in close quarters/narrow streets. A smoke grenade could provide cover to move/escape if deployed properly.

[hydrogonian]

[Snorse]

(07-27-2016 05:42 AM)H1N1 Wrote:  

Honestly, far better than doing MAs is simply to get much bigger and stronger...

I work part-time as a doorman at a nightclub – partly because my friend and training partner runs the security there, and is short of people, and partly because it's a good way to be out amongst people without drinking or spending hard-earned cash.

I honestly have no desire to hurt or bully anyone, and treat the job like adult babysitting. That doesn't mean I don't meet around 5-8 smaller guys a month who want nothing more than to be able to tell the story of how they fucked up the big bear looking guy at the club. Most of them harbour a combination of hyper-competitiveness, pride and a genuine chip on their collective shoulders.

Some of them have been a real handful, but with me operating at around 40% aggression (to protect my liberty, more than anything else, cops aren't on my side and courts certainly wouldn't be) – I'm talking a fraction of the state I get into to lift a big weight – I have yet to come across one that doesn't succumb or gas themselves out trying to wrestle free of me to throw a punch. If I need to get a lock or lever on I just manhandle them into position.

I 'fight' (it's not really fighting on my part, as I intend no damage) close up, where most guys don't expect to find me, and can't get the kinetic energy to 'swing' at me. I've met the odd guy who punches in straight-lines from the hip (Kenpo/Karate style) but they're not commonplace, especially when alcohol is onboard.

So I agree, mass, well-developed proprioception from sports/martial arts/training and the ability to tap your aggression but control your reaction to adrenaline (at least 'till afterwards) are the key skills you'll need.

Ironically, you need all of the above to operate any of the 'weapons' mentioned in this thread anyway, so might as well get the groundwork done.

BTW, 'the door' is kind of a last frontier/proving ground for most of us Western males. You can't call for endless (and escalating) back-up like cops. You can't be armed, even if your opponents have makeshift weapons. You can't run, so you have to hold your own. You can't fall apart when under threat or attack, so you quickly learn to think 'under fire' – figuratively speaking.

Plus, they pay you for it, and in my pre-marital days it was where I scored 90% of my lifelong sexual conquest 'numbers'... you'd have to be Quasimodo not to get laid!

Rick

[Hades]

Carry a large walking stick. A quarterstaff can split a man in half if wielded correctly.

[Rhyme or Reason]

Get savvy with some throwing knives. They are relatively cheap. Set up a target made of wood in your back yard.

[CaptainChardonnay]

My keychain has maybe 3 or 4 keys on the ring. If I'm walking in a rough area or around late at night i'll put a few keys in between my fingers with the teeth end pointed the same direction as my palm while forming a fist.

[Wreckingball]

(07-31-2016 06:48 PM)Hades Wrote:  

Carry a large walking stick. A quarterstaff can split a man in half if wielded correctly.

They shall not pass!

[deerhunter]

A lot of the suggestions seem complicated or impractical. If you want an available weapon in a disarmed society then a heavy walking stick seems sensible. The Irish were occupied and disarmed for centuries but they still had the shillelagh, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shillelagh_(club). Let it be known that you have an ankle or knee that acts up sometimes.

[XPQ22]

(07-27-2016 09:58 AM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  

Any budding electricians care to comment on this video?

If I can't get any takers to make one of these then I'm going to do it myself as a service to the RVF.

Handheld tasers and "stun guns" are almost entirely useless for self-defense. The only real use the handheld ones have are for police trying to get compliance ("stop resisiting!") with a perp after he's already on the ground, three guys on top of him, and essentially immobile.

That thing would clearly smart pretty bad if you were to be hit with it, but you have to close the distance to use it. Important rule of self-defense: closing the distance with an attacker who's up and moving is the worst possible option. He'll smash your head in before you ever get a chance to poke him with it.

The ones which fire darts would be more useful, but aren't something you can construct at home. And even with those the intent is that there are going to be a bunch of guys to jump on him once he's down, which isn't the place you want to be in. You can recover from the effects of a Taser hit pretty quickly.

High-potency pepper gel (the kind that's sticky and forms a stream, not a mist when you spray it) is really the best option available for non-lethal weapons you can use at a distance. Quickly pull it out, give them a good blast to the face, and run. They won't be interested in doing anything but clawing at their eyes for a half hour, which is exactly what you want, something that fucks them up for a good while.

Pepper spray is illegal without a permit in my state, but permits are not terribly difficult to get. Completely hypothetically speaking, if I were some other person who felt in danger more often, I might choose to carry even without a permit, as one might feel it's preferable to to discuss any issues that might arise from a conflict comfortably with a lawyer after the fact, rather than be in a hospital bed, or dead.

[dnx]

Karambit

[Stadtaffe]

Quite a few things are legal in Germany, electric weapons and sprays (but only for use against animals). Sort of agree with many of the posts here that being bigger, trained and aggressive is important. Are you really going to bother to carry these things with you everywhere you go?

BUT the belt idea is great! I liked the sound of the D-Cell in a sock but really, I wear a belt everywhere, just need to consider a heavier buckle and after watching that video, perhaps a more flexible strap than the leather I usually wear to be able to wield it effectively.

Keys..

[Dalaran1991]

(07-29-2016 02:37 PM)Valentine Wrote:  

In my mind however there is a far more carriable and deployable alternative to the bike chain with similar blunt force and that is a simple belt. Ideally a leather belt with a heavy metal belt buckle. Pretty quick to whip off your trousers, you have to wear one everyday and no bouncer or law enforcement is going to pay any mind to your belt.

As for effectiveness, I sure wouldn't want to be anywhere near a guy who is swinging his belt like this:

That guy definitely knows what he is doing. Funny that the video seems to be made in France, where this kind of measure is necessary.

I've always advocated using belt as a weapon. It's always on you, legal wise you are at no risk, and if used correctly it is a devastating weapon.

One more advantage is that it has crowd control capability. A trained user can whirl it diagonally to create a killzone.

In Vietnam belt fighting is very common and has a rather gangster like reputation. Sharpen the belt buckle edge and it will cut as well as do tremendous trauma damage.

The only disadvantages: it can get tangled if you dont know how to use it.

And the belts that are good for this are usually not that stylist. Guess I'm having to ditch all my leather belts now

[Leonard D Neubache]

^ I suppose it should go without saying that if you plan on using this method then your should wear pants that fit properly.

[Off The Reservation]

I still have found no better weapon for travel / disarmed nations than a metal flashlight.

[Snowplow]

While there are a lot of good suggestions and ideas here that I agree with there are bunch the I wholeheartedly disagree with. First off, as far as home security I agree with a metal door with wood exterior, but one thing most people do not take into consideration is the lock. Not only do you want to have a deadbolt in place but with your standard doorknob lock it's real easy to kick and break from the door frame. The reason being is they usually come with shorter screws that go into the frame. For added security use 3-4" screws.

When you are outside of your home, situational awareness is going to be your biggest saviour. Knowing your exits and escape routes, finding regular items to use as weapons, people's body language etc. Also going about your daily life you want to be as inconspicuous and forgetable as possible. Not drawing attention to yourself is key. I try not to wear anything that will draw attention. I prefer plain shirts, coats and hats. People will remember logos.

As far as everyday carry goes, I almost always have a knife or two, belt (absolute worst case, I'll get into that later), and keys. I do have a conceled carry license for a gun but that won't count for this thread. First and foremost knowing self defence is critical. I know that my hands can do, from simple striking, to maiming and how to kill if need be. My knife would be my next go to. I know Black Knight said knives are stupid all around, but I think of them quite the opposite. Knives scare people more than guns surprisingly. They have been around far longer than gun and it's almost ingrained into our DNA I be fearful of them. Knives are very concealable and unlike a bullet, they do not travel in a straight path. It pays to learn knife counter defense as well as techniques to use one.

As far as why belts and chains are my last ditch and least favorite. They seem more intimidating than they are practical. Unless you are some sort of chain master, they are extremely easy to counter and disarm. I practiced in Systema (Russian martial art) and we were trained only to counter chains because they are pretty useless.

This video shows the very basic defense. But also shows the chain when countered can come back to hit you. I couldn't find any of the disarming a chain videos, but just with those basic techniques it makes it easier to grab the chain to disarm or if they have a good trip on it you can pull them to you. The closer they are the harder it is to use, the same thing is true with a medium to long stick.

One item you may want to consider carrying is called a "monkey fist". Its small, very concealable and can do quite a bit of damage.

It is nothing more than Paracord and a large diameter ball bearing. That little fucker hurts!

Just remember guys, watch your surroundings, trust your instincts, don't stand out, and when absolutely necessary use extreme aggression.

[Leonard D Neubache]

Whether a chain or a bat or whatever striking weapon an opponent is using, there's generally little better advice you can give the layman than to either run away or close distance extremely aggressively and go to ground.

All of that stuff about taking the stick away from them is mostly bullshit that works just fine in slow motion dojo simulations but in reality takes thousands of repetitions at competition speeds to rewire your natural reflex against reverting to a hard block with your arms.

[Snowplow]

(12-09-2016 03:52 AM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  

Whether a chain or a bat or whatever striking weapon an opponent is using, there's generally little better advice you can give the layman than to either run away or close distance extremely aggressively and go to ground.

All of that stuff about taking the stick away from them is mostly bullshit that works just fine in slow motion dojo simulations but in reality takes thousands of repetitions at competition speeds to rewire your natural reflex against reverting to a hard block with your arms.

I couldn't agree more! It does take a lot of training with any sort of weapons defense, along with the mental readiness to commit to attacking someone with a weapon.

I feel fairly confident going into a situation like that, but I also will never be afraid to run when I need to.